The fall of a noble soul
by Nequam95
Summary: Luke Skywalker is haunted by visions of a strange woman who claims to be the end of him and everything he loved, unless he kills her. Driven by his emotions, he decides to find her on the scarred planet of Malachor, but he runs into a small army of clones instead, trapping him in the power play between Emperor Snoke and his right hand, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
1. Chapter 1

**Important notes:**

As you can see from the description, I mixed the characters of the new movie with the characters of the EU, I tried to have no consistency issues between them, this mainly concerns Luke. He is a bit darker as you would expect him to be. I've tried to make him as the transition between the brave hero who fought Darth Vader in the Second Death Star and the cold, harsh man who just turned away from everything once he failed to restore the Jedi Order. I hope I got it right :)

This is my first story in English, I wrote it as a one part short story, and sadly this was the worst possible way to upload it, since its long and it is full of grammatical mistakes. I decided to chop it into pieces, I try to cut it in reasonable parts that make some sense on their own, I think that the first few pages would make an acceptable prologue, therefore I will start with that, and we will see how it works out :)

* * *

 **The fall of a noble soul:**

 **Part I.**

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood at the bridge of the Chimaera, observing the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer in front of him, gliding slowly in the blackness of space _._ The _Lone Star_ was one of its kind. Emperor Snoke wanted to create countless more, making them the backbone of the Imperial Fleet. But so far the crippled, beaten Empire could only produce one of these magnificent beasts. If it were to Thrawn, he would make it the flagship of the remaining Fleet, but it was the Emperor's call, and he wanted it to serve as the home ship of his private guardians, known as the First Order.

It was no wonder that the _Lone Star_ was here, Thrawn had a proposition to the Sith Lord. He would only tell him about it aboard the _Chimaera_ , the only star destroyer in the Fleet he known and trusted enough to survive this encounter. His proposal was dangerous alone, his true plan could get him killed in an instant, if the Emperor would find it out before its too late.

But only one thing at a time. For now, Thrawn had to play his game of shadowing and deceit with the Sith Lord standing right beside him. He already told him his proposition, the only thing left was to listen to his answer in a calm, yet determined manner, and react accordingly.

„I am sick of your games, Grand Admiral," the Sith said after careful consideration.

„These games are the only thing that keep the Empire alive, my lord," Thrawn cocked his eyebrow. „If the Jedi discover the facility, all the clones of Noeya Adane must be present in there, ensuring our success."

„Its not the question of if, Grand Admiral, it is the question of when," said the dark robed figure. „We mustn't underestimate Luke Skywalker, nor his Jedi Order. If they discover its location, they will succeed in destroying it. I agree that some of her clones has to be present in the facility, in order to convince Skywalker about his victory, but we can't lose all of them."

„You are speaking about these Force-sensitive puppets of yours, like they were irreplaceable," Thrawn said, slightly turning towards him. „They are common clones, we could have thousands of them by now, if your apprentice gets himself killed a bit later. I am sure you would find a way to create more of them after we lost the facility."

„No Force-sensitive is replaceable," the Sith shrugged.

„They are," the Grand Admiral shook his head. „Unless I'm right."

„Meaning?" the Emperor tried to mask his genuine shock, but no man could hide anything from Thrawn.

„You can clone a dead person from his genes, but you can't clone the Force itself. You can only exploit the living Force from a living body, thus I conclude that Noeya Adane is still alive."

„She died when the time came for her to die," the Sith snapped.

„Indeed," Thrawn nodded. „She was just as dead as you were, when your apprentice struck you down, believing he got rid of you for eternity. Yet here you are, long after he is gone, just as Noeya Adane is down there, in the heart of that facility, living in constant suffering, while she is forced to feed hundreds of embryos with the Force."

Thrawn remained silent, Snoke stared at him for a moment, trying to mask his mixed emotions. He chose well when he made him to be the master of the Imperial Fleet. Maybe too well.

„Interesting, that one with such knowledge would like me to send all of my clones to their certain doom," the Sith said.

„No sacrifice, no victory."

„I thought losing the facility is a certainty," the Emperor said, facing toward the _Lone Star_.

„It is, yet such an event doesn't necessarily equals with defeat," Thrawn nodded. „If Skywalker finds Adane, one of two things are going to happen: he lets her go, knowing that you can make an army of clones, if you get her in your grasp again, or he puts his lightsaber through her chest."

„No jedi would do such a thing. Especially not him."

„He will, after he sees how many of them we've created," the Grand Admiral said with a flicker of smile on his face. „And by that I don't mean the embryos, those value are small to a life of an adult, even for a jedi. I speak about the very clones you would spare from this fight. Let him fight them, let him kill them, let him lose a friend or two to them. He will know what to do, when he finds Noeya, and after the facility is nothing, but ash, he will remember what he did, and this will start him on the road leading to his inevitable fall. You won't destroy the jedi with brute force, no sith did that ever before. You can do that only from the inside, just as your apprentice did before us."

„Very well," the Sith said, admiring his insight. „Yet I would still spare one of the clones, just in case."

„Yes, I knew you would want to save at least one of them. Most certainly the newest one, who possesses so much danger that even you would be afraid to face her by the time she reaches the height of her power. You wished to hide her not just from me, but from the everyone else as well, but you have failed to deceive me. By the time you arrived here, I didn't just order every clone to be at the facility, but I have menaged to withdrew all our additional forces from the system, ensuring their doom." Thrawn said so calmly, that Snoke barely noticed that the stormtroopers raised up their weapons around him. Most of them pointed at him, while others were targeting his guardians, the troopers of the First Order, who were still loyal to him.

„What's the meaning of this, Grand Admiral?" The Sith raised his voice.

„Not Grand Admiral, not anymore, my friend," Thrawn said in a cold manner. „The time of Emperor Snoke is over."

* * *

This was the first small piece of the short story, I hope you enjoyed it! I will try my best to to entertain you guys with the rest, it would be a huge help if you gave me an honest opinion about it, and some grammatical errors, if its possible, then I could rework the rest according to your feedback :)


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, the second chapter is here! Many thanks to Brievel for being an awesome beta, he improved a lot in this story, especially in terms of grammar :)

* * *

 **The fall of a noble soul**

 **Part II**

Ahsoka Tano knelt before the Jedi Council. She could feel the gaze of the masters on her skin in the confined space of the stone chamber, not just from Luke Skywalker or Kyle Katarn, but from Kanan Jarrus as well – despite the fact he lost his eyesight a long time ago.

„I know I've turned my back on the Old Order, it was a mistake that I dearly regret. But I am here now, and I am ready to serve as a Jedi again," she said, masking her nervousness.

„You didn't just leave the Order, you turned you back on everyone who ever knew you," Luke answered, running his fingers through his beard. „If this wasn't enough, you completely disappeared after that. You did help the rebels at some point, but than you just vanished again, shortly after you had a duel with my fater, or your former master, to be more precise. Since this was a very long time ago, may I ask you, where have you been after the fight?"

„I was trying to find my path," Ahsoka answered. It was the same answer she gave to Kanan after she contacted him, Luke must have known this already. Which meant, he wanted to hear the longer explanation. Unfortunately, she didn't want to share it with anyone in here.

„Very well. Do you have anything else to say?" Luke asked. Tano shook her head. „Then let the vote begin."

Ahsoka was used to long waits; back in the old days, there were times when the masters sat in silence for an hour without saying anything – boring her to death. But in this case, the decision was just as swift as her blade.

„I approve," Kanan said. „It would be an honor to have you back, Ahsoka." There was little to no doubt about this, they knew each other, they made a bond fighting together for the good of the galaxy. However, one vote could hardly secure her place in the New Jedi Order.

„I approve. You need us, just as we need you," Katarn said. The decision has been made, yet the final vote remained.

„I don't approve," Luke said, staring deep into her eyes. „You strayed too far from us for too long. Not everyone can become a jedi, the Order wouldn't exist today if I would welcome every single idiot with a lightsaber, who felt they would make a fine jedi. Yet the votes have been cast, the Council decided that you can be a…

„Actually," Katarn said, interrupting the Grand Master of the Jedi Order. „I shall withdraw my vote, I need more time to consider your offer." It was impossible to not feel anything after this, even for a jedi. Yet Ahsoka managed to suppress her anger.

„I understand, Master Katarn," Tano nodded.

„Don't call me that," Kyle said, while he walked away from his post and turned toward Skywalker. „Luke, a word."

The Grand Master apologized for the interruption, then he went for a short walk with Katarn in the courtyard of the new Jedi Temple. It was a lovely afternoon on Odessen, Luke heard countless birds singing as he walked in the narrow path that cut through the green grass and the colorful flowers.

"What the hell was that?" Katarn asked masking his fury.

"I don't want her in the Order, and that is all there is to it. If it weren't for Kanan, I wouldn't even let her near the Temple at the first place."

"And why is that? Because she has some secrets? Or because she made a mistake? I made many mistakes before I became a jedi, we all made mistakes. But we changed for the better, just as she did," Katarn pointed out.

"We all make mistakes, that is true. But changing for the better is a luxury in these times. I never knew Ahsoka, I only heard some stories about her, mere legends from a different person fighting in a different era. I can't trust her based on mere legends," Luke explained.

"You do trust her, you wouldn't let her near this place otherwise. If she were to harm us, she would have done it already, leading a legion of stormtroopers and Inquisitors to our doors," Katarn said, as they arrived to the center of the courtyard, marked by a fountain and a few benches for those who wanted to admire its peace for a time.

"You really should have listened to my teachings, while you were an apprentice, Kyle," Luke said as he stopped in front of the fountain. "Trust doesn't come easy and never comes to its full extent right in the beginning. I saw how much Kanan admires her, I know what she did for us in the past, therefore I trust her enough to let her in here for the time being. She clearly wants to be among us, I can tell this by the way she was looking at me alone, but that doesn't mean she would make a fine jedi. It doesn't mean she wouldn't break in the a heat of a lightsaber battle against the true evil or that she would be willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good when she finds herself in the face of death. And if she is not able to do that, something that all of us would do for any of us in here, then there is no place for her among us. Not yet, anyway. I don't want to shun her from our sight for good, she could help us or the Republic, if she wants. And if she keeps in touch with us, then in due time, as I get to know how she handles the situations she gets into, I would grant her my permission to join the Order," Luke said, as he admired the fountain. There was something about it that didn't let him to look away from it.

"And that's why you had to say that she is nothing, but some sort of idiot with a lightsaber. Because, you know, we don't have to be kind and all that, we can just insult anyone we want, since that is the way of the Jedi, as it seems," Kyle snapped.

"And you had to revoke your word, giving her ten times as much of a hard time that I gave to her."

"I was just curious about your decision. You wouldn't act like for no reason, at least this is what I thought," Katarn said, Luke decided not to answer. "Look, I get that you have all those funny visions about some mad woman, but that doesn't mean that you have a permission to walk over anyone who gets in your way. Many jedi had strange visions before, and you never heard of Yoda being a son of a gundark in front of the whole Council just because a vision spoiled the next episode of his favorite show," Kyle told him, however, Luke didn't seem to pay attention to him. He just stood beside him, looking at the fountain, concentrating in nothing but the water falling down from its height.

* * *

From Luke's perspective, the fountain was spitting fire into the sky, where star destroyers lurked among the clouds, shooting a barrage of deadly lasers to the surface. It was the end of a world, the end of Odessen, and there was only one person that Luke recognized from the invasion.

The woman he seen in his earlier visions.

The red haired beauty stepped out of the fire, stopping a few inches in front of Luke, glaring at him. She held her lightsaber ready for battle, the brilliant light of the red blade cast a red shadow on her face.

"Kill me or I will be the end of you. I will be the end of all beings," said the woman as she made a threatening blow with her lightsaber towards him.

Luke didn't fear her, in fact, he was trying to decide what the hell was she, as the blade rushed towards his face and then retreated in an elegant manner. Only the servants of the Dark Side used red lightsabers, but she was different from them. She didn't seem to be evil. Her ragged, grey clothes were of some kind of refugee, her green eyes were pleading for mercy.

"I don't kill," Luke said. He spoke to her many times in the past before, but he never managed to get an answer or any kind of reaction from her.

"Even if your life and the lives of your loved ones depend on it?" she said, surprising Luke. It took a second before he could react to her words.

"There must be another way. There is always one," he said as she smiled at him. She seemed confident, even happy, Luke would even believe that, if he didn't notice the tears that ran down from her eyes. "I can help you, I can save you from whoever is tormenting you. But I have to know where to find you."

"You know where to find me, you are just afraid to admit it. Because you can feel me, all of me. And that feeling terrifies you, it urges you to act, and you know that this act would be the greatest trial you ever had. Friends would die, good friends, lifelong friends. You would have to kill, not just once, but a thousand times. And in the end, you would accomplish nothing, but to buy some time for yourself and to the galaxy at whole. You had time, you could avoid this trial for this long, but now time has abandoned you. Another me rose from the darkness by the power of the Ancient Lord of the Sith himself, a new me, a perfect me. You either face me or doom everything that ever existed in this galaxy. It is your choice, Skywalker. I am waiting for you, all of me – said the woman, smiling and crying at the same time...

Then she disappeared.

* * *

Everything went back to normal, the fountain was just as beautiful as it was before, the singing of the birds filled the air once more. Everything was normal again, except Katarn, who was trying to get him back to reality in the whole time.

"You saw her again, didn't you?" he asked, knowing there was no other explanation.

"I have to go," Luke told him as he turned away and started to walk toward the edge of the Courtyard, where he put his ship down the last time he went out with it.

Kyle went after him.

"Where? After her?"

"I have to save her," Luke said fastening his pace.

"You realize that she might just lure you into a trap, so the Sith could kill you? I know it sounds like a giant cliche, but it happens."

"That won't stop me, and we both know that."

"Alright, we tell it to the others and ask for some volunteers. Kanan would come surely, just like Mara, and I recon at least a dozen other jedi would join us. We could even bring Ahsoka, if you were to change your mind about her. She is a skilled warrior and this would be the perfect time to prove herself. And, just to be sure that we stand a chance, we could give a call to the Republic, they would surely dispatch some cruisers to assist us, maybe even Ackbar would come. You know, just to say "It's a trap!" one more time before he retires," Kyle said, trying to convince his old friend.

"I won't risk anyone, but myself. More than enough people died for me already," Luke told him as they arrived to his ship. It was well functioning VCY-100 light freighter, called the White Night, with many useful upgrades, including a new, powerful main gun that could obliterate an entire facility with a few dozen shots.

"You don't have to right to decide what we could die for, and what we could not. This is our calling," Katarn answered, Luke stopped, and turned toward him.

"I want to do this alone, my friend. I have to."

Kyle realized, there was no choice in here. If he wanted to go alone, he had to, and Katarn had to respect that.

"Very well. Take care, Luke," he told him.

"You too, Kyle," Skywalker told him as they shook hands. "If I don't come back, tell my wife I love her. It's your call, what will happen with Ahsoka, but promise me, that whatever you decide to do, you will keep the Order's sake above yours."

"I promise," he said, Luke turned around, walked on the docking ramp, and closed it behind him once he was through. He had a long journey ahead of him, and a trial that could be harder than any other trial he had to face before.

* * *

Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it :)


	3. Chapter 3

I hope you liked the story up to this point, this is where the real action starts - with a few surprises :D

Many thanks to Brievel for the beta reading!

* * *

 **The fall of a noble soul**

 **Part III**

Noeya was right, Luke knew exactly where to find her. He could always feel a strange presence around Malachor, ever since he payed a visit at the ruined Sith Temple, where Ahsoka faced her old master. But this dark presence changed after his first vision of Noeya. It was almost like something started to came together, after it was shattered into a thousand pieces. And with it, it started to become stronger and more terrifying than anything he ever seen before.

It was unwise for Luke to pretend that everything is alright, he should have investigated this matter the moment he sensed it. But everyone made mistakes, even him, and the time has come to correct his mistake.

He didn't even get to Malachor, when he encountered the first problem in his plan.

The cargo hold's door opened; Luke stepped in, glaring nervously at the invader.

"Well, that was fast. What gave it away?" Katarn asked, sitting on one of the small containers.

"My food doesn't eat itself," Skywalker told him with masked fury.

"Can't blame me, I have to eat too, you know... But anyway. You really thought that was it? You would just go, get yourself killed, and then I would tell your wife, as she is crying on my shoulder, that I let all that happen? What about Han, Leia or Ben? You would just let them all down? No, I won't let that happen, Luke. Like it or not, we are together in this one."

"I told you, I don't want anyone else to die for me. Especially not a Jedi Master," he said, but he didn't seem to be as angry as before.

"Don't worry, I'm not a Jedi Master. This time, I'm just an idiot with a lightsaber," Katarn told him.

"Alright," Luke glared at him. "What happens if you die?"

Malachor was as terrifying as ever. The black clouds in the sky unleashed vicious thunders and a torment of rain to the ground of the ancient graveyard of a long forgotten era. Luke approached the center of the Dark Presence with his ship, the sensors didn't seem to detect any kind of structures in this part of the planet, but his eyes soon found what he was looking for– a huge, black facility standing tall in the storm.

"There is something here... something I never felt before," Kyle said as they approached the complex.

"I know. The Dark Side is strong in here," Skywalker nodded.

"Not just that... Wait, another ship?" Katarn pointed towards another vessel, that was far too familiar to him than it should be. It was an old HWK-290 class freighter. "I wonder what are they searching here... And why are they copying me."

"I don't know, but they have just as a terrible taste in term of starships as you do," Luke told him. "I will land the _White Night_ in here, I hope we could catch up with them. Maybe they could help us out."

"Or maybe they are just as disgusting as the people working in that facility," Kyle shrugged. "But lets find out, shall we?"

The _White Night_ landed in the rain, Luke and Katarn barely stepped to the muddy ground, when they realized they had company. Two shadowy figures stood at the entrance of the building, with long, black hoods masking their faces. Both of them shared the same height and the same build.

"Leave, now," the woman on the right said. Katarn wanted to answer, but his friend was faster than he was.

"I'm afraid this would not be as simple," Luke said, keeping his hand close to his lightsaber. "We are searching for Noeya Adane. She might be in trouble, and we want to help her."

"I said leave. If your life has any meaning to you, you will obey," the answer came. Strangely, the woman on the left said it instead of her partner.

"We are not leaving without her," Luke told them, his voice more demanding than Kyle expected it to be.

"Then you are in luck. You have found me," said the women on the right as she remowed her hood. It was Noeya Adane all right, she completely matched the description Luke gave him on the journey.

"You have found us," the other one added as she did the same as her partner. She didn't just look like her, they were identical.

"Clones? What kind of sorcery is this?" Katarn broke his silence. The old clones were one thing, but these...

"Clones?" both of them laughed as they took their weapons in their hands. "More than just clones," they activated their lightsabers, the crude light of the red blades filled the night with terror.

"We don't have to fight!" Luke raised his voice as they approached him with an evil smile on their faces.

No answer came.

"Sorry," Katarn turned to Skywalker. "But we kinda do," he activated his lightsaber and launched himself toward his opponents as the blue blade touched the air.

It was a bold move from Kyle to take on both of them at the same time. The clones didn't expect such a harsh action from a jedi – but then again, Katarn wasn't famous because he was all that gentle. He struck his opponents with crude, but effective strikes, making them believe that he was nothing but a savage who likes to cut things apart.

As the lightsabers started to clash with one other, the clones quickly adopted to his feigned weakness. One of them held Kyle at bay, while the other launched a quick strike against his back. Katarn knew this would happen, he pushed the clone before him back with a quick blow, then he turned around to face the other one.

But it was too late.

Kyle couldn't do much against the strike, he would be dead if it weren't for Luke. Realizing there is no choice in here, Skywalker pushed the clone to the side with the Force. She barely touched the ground when he ignited his lightsaber and started to march toward her.

"I got her," Luke said to his friend.

"About time!" Kyle said just before he launched another attack towards the other clone. She tried to counter his blow, but the blade headed straight toward her lightsaber hilt, cutting it into pieces.

Katarn knew that his opponent had no real weapon, but he also knew that a Force User didn't need a real weapon to be dangerous. He stepped to the clone and cut her in two with a quick strike toward her shoulder.

He felt remorse after the kill, even though it was a clone and there was no choice in here. Snapping out of his inner struggle, he turned toward Luke, who already gained the upper hand in duel with the other clone.

"Wait!" the clone cried out when Luke struck her lightsaber out of her hand.

Kyle knew Skywalker would grant her wish.

"What are you? What is this place?" Luke demanded from her.

"I am your death. This place is your doom," she answered. It was almost like she didn't wish to live at all.

But then why did she gave up the fight?

Katarn saw rocks lifting up from the ground behind Luke. The clone could injure – if not incapacitate him – with those. She didn't gave a choice to Kyle.

"Look out!" he warned Skywalker.

As Luke ducked from the stones, Katarn throw his lightsaber through the clone. After he made sure she was dead, he looked around, searching for imminent threat.

There was none.

"Well, that was one hell of a warm up round," Katarn broke the momentary silence. "You think this place is full of these things?"

"It seems likely," Luke nodded. "And I believe one of them is far more powerful, than the others."

"How the hell did they grow them? I thought there can be no Force Sensitive clones," Kyle told him shaking his head.

"They use the real Noeya Adane to connect them with the Force. If we get to her, we shut this madness down for good."

"How can you be so sure?" Kyle asked.

"Because she told me so. She said, I have to kill her or she will kill me and everyone I love. I didn't understand it at first, but it seems like our old enemy captured her and started use her as the source of his new army. Now I hope that we can resolve this wtihout killing her, but be ready, Kyle. We might not like what awaits us at the end of this road."

"We have to stop this, one way or another," Kyle nodded.

Katarn walked toward the entrance with Luke. Knowing they wouldn't just let them in, he used to Force to snap the security door open – which went a little bit harder then he thought it would be. Luke gave him a hand, the two of them could easily open the entrance.

Kyle expected a whole bunch of clones and stormtroopers, but there were no one there. As they went in, he soon realized, that the whole place was deserted. It was almost like everyone left, but the clones, and even they had something better to do.

The source of the Dark Presence came from below, so they paid a visit to the lower levels through the stairway. From there Kyle stepped to a ling corridor, and he stood breathless at the sight of the transparent canisters lining on the walls. They were filled with a strange, blue liquid, and in each of them...

There was a small embryo of Noeya Adane.

"It won't be enough to reach Noeya," Kyle realized. "We will have to burn this whole facility to the ground. You think the _White Night_ has the firepower?"

"We will have to make a turn or two, but yes, it can be done," Luke nodded.

They passed through another door, there was a clone behind it. A dead one.

Kyle quickly stepped to the body. At first she didn't seem to be injured, then he saw the lightsaber cut that went through her back.

"They kill each other?" Kyle asked, Luke shook his head. "Then what? Inquisitors?"

"I doubt there would be a single one of them who doesn't follow the Emperor's orders. No, I'm afraid this is something else."

"Another jedi? No... No one would come here without telling the others first," Kyle quessed.

"Is that so?"

"No one sane minded," he answered. "But then, who the hell did this?"

The sound of lightsaber blows came instead of the answer. Kyle looked up towards the end of the corridor, and immediately started to run towards the next room. With Luke coming after him, he was sure that they could deal with whatever waited for them at the other side.

Through the hall they arrived in the middle of a fierce lightsaber battle. Three dead clones lay on the floor, while the two living ones launched a joint attack against the invader, standing proudly at the center of the room. The third woman wore grey clothes made of fabric, her brown hair was just as long the clone's. She held both of her lightsabers with a steady grip, the blade of brilliant green turned toward the clone in front of her, while the blade of menacing red pointed towards the other one behind her.

As Kyle inspected her, the woman turned around, locking her green eyes with the man's gaze. Then she turned away, facing her deadly enemies.

He wanted to join the woman in the fight, but Luke stopped him, gripping his shoulder.

"We don't know who she is."

Without the assistance of his friend, Kyle was forced to watch the fight. The woman seemingly had no trouble with her opponents, she held back both of their strikes with steady and elegant combat movements, then she locked her lightsaber with the clone's in front of her. The other one thought her time had came, she attacked her prey in the back, but the woman quickly answered the threat. She struck the clone's blade away with her lightsaber, then she ran the green blade through her neck.

After the clone dropped dead behind her, she could turn every fiber of her being against the other Noeya Adane. She qiuckly menaged to overcome the clone's defense by cutting her hand off with a fierce blow. The clone gave out a pained cry fpr mercy as the woman kicked her to the ground, pointing the green lightsaber against her chest.

"You would really do this to me? After all that we've done together?" she said in a pained, yet demanding manner.

"You are not her. You are never going to be her!" the woman answered coldly, a tear silently leaving her eyes.

"Of course I am... It's me, Mira, your friend... Don't you see?"

Mira didn't answer. She struck her blade through the clone's chest, then she turned towards the pair of Jedi with a gaze filled with hatred."

"Who are you?" Luke asked holding his lightsaber steady in his hand.

"You shouldn't be here. This is my fight, this is my hell, not yours," Mira said as she approached them, her weapons still blazing in her hands.

"You didn't answer my question," Skywalker pointed out gently.

Kyle sensed a lot of tension between them, he had to intervene in order to avoid an unnecessary confrontation.

"Hey, why don't we make another go at this?" Kyle said as he stepped between them. "I am sorry for my friend's behavior. He grew to be... a bit grumpy with all his responsibility, and he made some mistakes in the past, so now his trust doesn't come easily... At least not for strange ladies running around with a red lightsaber..." he said, Mira made a threatening glare at him. "I mean, pretty damn fine looking ladies... Anyway, let me introduce myself, I am Kyle Katarn and he is Grand Master Luke Skywalker, head of the Jedi Order. We would be willing to assist you in this struggle, so to say... But first we would like to understand this... situation."

"So the time has come..." Mira said, turning towards Luke. "We crossed paths many times before, it is quite surprising that we only menaged to meet now, after such a long time. I knew Noeya called for you, who else would she cry out for, then the hero of the galaxy? But I've never seen you before, I couldn't be sure it was you with that large beard of yours," she said as she put her weapons away.

Katarn glanced at Luke, finally he seemed to stand down.

"I never heard of you, Mira. What is going on between you and this Noeya Adane?" Luke asked.

"I am Mira Wess, I was a Jedi at the height of my days. Noeya was my best friend, my only friend for a long time..."

"But she is a Sith, isn't she?" Luke interrupted her.

"She wasn't always like this, but yes, she is a Sith. Her fall to the Dark Side caused our separation. I remember like it as was yesterday, as I was fighting her as fiercely as I never fought before, I didn't fight against her, but for her. But I've a lost, I failed her and myself as well. She couldn't bring herself to kill me... not even then. So she left me. That was the last time I have seen her. After that, I lived my life in failure and regret, surrounded by my demons. No wonder Noeya didn't want me to be here. She knew it would break me to see what has become of her, to realize how much pain my failure caused her," Mira explained.

"But you are here," Luke argued.

"It was childish for her to believe that I wouldn't find her. There was a bond between us, a bond that seemed to die, but then ignited again at the height of her suffering. Because it pains her, the process they use to connect her with the clones causes her more pain that she ever thought it was possible to feel. I have to stop this, even if it kills me doing so. If it were up to me, I would prefer to do this alone, this is my story after all, but I guess you wouldn't just go away at this point. I welcome you as my allies, for now."

"You said you were a Jedi," Luke gazed into her eyes, trying to decide he could trust her or not. "What are you now?"

"I was," Mira nodded. "Until fate broke me. Now I don't care what I am anymore. I just want to get to my friend, whatever it takes. You judge me as you wish because of my actions, I don't care what you think of me."

Luke didn't answer.

"I think we could take some help with this facility," Katarn said in his friend's place. "My guts say there will be a lot of clones between us and Noeya."

"Not as many as they were before. I got at least a dozen of them at this point, even though one of them put a up a lot tougher fight than expected. If my instincts are right, you got two more, this means there will be at least six of them, maybe eight," Mira said, making some cautious calculations.

"Eight could mean business, if they get us right where they want us to be," Katarn nodded, then he turned toward Luke. "What do you think?"

"How can you feel their presence in a place that is clouded by the Dark Side so much?" Luke asked from her.

"The Dark Side is only a mystery to those who are afraid of it," Mira answered.

Luke remained in silence for a few seconds, then he took a deep breath before he would announce his judgement.

"Alright, we will make a good team together. But after that, we are done for."

"Lead the way, _my hero_ " Mira nodded.

Luke didn't seem to react to her insult. He turned around and started to walk toward their ultimate goal.

* * *

Thank you for reading it! Don't forget to leave some feedback if you liked it :)


	4. Chapter 4

The next part of the story is here! There is part in it that might be a bit brutal for a T rated story, but I might be wrong in here. Anyway, approach it with caution :)

Many thanks to Brievel for the beta reading!

* * *

 **The fall of a noble soul**

 **Part IV**

It seemed as the standoff between the two leaders could only be resolved by blood. Yet nothing happened so far. The stormtroopers nervously aimed at each other with their weapons, while Thrawn locked eyes with Snoke.

"I can't let you infect the galaxy with a horde of those things. My loyalty is for the Empire, an empire ruled by reason and strength, not some wild experiment of a mad Sith Lord who couldn't see that he is nothing more than a burden, an obstacle in the way of the very ideology he created all those centuries ago," the Chiss said coldly, his red eyes accusing Snoke for his mistakes.

"You will die for this, Thrawn," the Sith said, igniting his lightsaber. The red blade stopped from an inch of the usurper's chin.

"I might, but neither of us are getting out of here, if it comes that," Thrawn answered, without showing any kind of emotion.

Snoke didn't answer, but the Sith didn't struck him down either.

"You can feel it, you can sense the danger that my death means to you. But you don't understand it, do you? Let me help you with that. As I came here, I almost completely overloaded the Chimaera's reactor, then I ordered my engineers to mask its signature while they proceeded to turn off every single containment protocol that might save the ship in the event of a meltdown. After that I connected my life signs with all the inactive systems that I could find. If I die, they will activate in an instant, and with that, the Chimaera will rip itself apart. It will take some time of course, that's why I ordered my men to come here. They couldn't match you in fight, no one could, but Luke Skywalker, but I am sure, my stormtroopers will keep you busy long enough. That's right, if you kill me, you will end up in a thousand pieces, just as everyone else in here."

"I am beyond death, you fool," the Sith told him, his voice filled with threat and hatred.

"Yet, you didn't do anything. It took decades for you to recover the last time, an Empire rose up and fell almost completely at that time. Now this empire, the so called dream of yours, is in ruins, the only reason why it still exists because the enemy doesn't even recognize us as a threat anymore. But they are wrong, not because of our ships, troops or resources, those are all, but a joke, compared to what we used to have. The Empire is a threat to them, because you and I make it so. If you kill me, you are the only one who could make it dangerous, but you will be gone for decades. And deep down you know, that the Empire will be long gone when you get back. You could start over of course, you could train new apprentices, and you could lay down the foundations of a new Empire under the nose of the Republic and the Jedi. But how long would that take? A century, five hundred years, maybe a thousand? You are a patient man, my friend, I give you that. But you are not that patient, not after everything you have been through. This means that your only option is to swallow your pride and leave with your guardians."

"The First Order is a legion. You think we would just disappear? I will expand the First Order, I will make a new state from it in the place of the Empire. A new state, a stronger state that would become everything the Empire couldn't be. And if you think you could stop me, remember that neither of us could afford a war with the Republic in our doorstep," Snoke answered, putting his lightsaber away.

The troopers were still aiming their at one another. Thrawn nodded, signaling his soldiers to stand down. The stormtroopers withdrew their weapons, and with a strong feeling of relief, the soldiers of First Order did the same.

"No, we couldn't afford a war, at the best we would waste away resources vital for our survival, at worst, we would make the Republic realize that we are threat after all, initiating a chain of events that we are simply not prepared for. As of now, of course. But the time will come when we are strong enough, and then we shall finish our fight. One of us will die, while the other claims what belonged to the other. In the end, let it be the Empire or the First Order, the Republic will fall to superior power, and with it, the Jedi will fall as well."

"Make the best of your reign, Thrawn." The Sith glared at the Admiral. "Because it will be a short one," he turned around and started to walk toward the end of the bridge. His troops quickly surrounded him, making sure nothing threatens their lord.

"I could advise you the same, Darth Plagueis," The chiss told him as he reached the exit, calling the Sith in his ancient, long forgotten name. "Your end is nigh after all."

The group approached the core of the facility with haste. They didn't know what would await them at the other side of the door, but Katarn somehow suspected that it was not going to be pretty.

As the door opened, a large room stood before him, filled with control consoles and strange devices around a human-sized durasteel canister. It was like a coffin, except that it wasn't holding a dead person, but it rather kept someone from reaching the other side.

Kyle wasn't surprised that a bunch of clones guarded the chamber. The mere imitations of Noeya Adane approached them threateningly, activating their lightsabers, ready for the final confrontation.

"Alright, I guess we could stick together," he came up with a tactic. "And then as we approach them..."

"Could you stop explaining our tactic in front of the enemy?" Mira snapped. "That's the stupidest thing you could do in a fight!"

"But I saw it in a movie! And it worked fi... Well... Alright, then we will just go and do what we do best!" Katarn answered as he ignited his lightsaber.

The fight begun, Kyle wanted to take on at least two of the clones, but he quickly realized, he didn't have a say in it. One of them jumped in front of him, as their lightsabers collided, the two clones on his right jumped at Luke while the rest of them took on Mira. It was smart from them to do so, there was no way Wess could be stronger, than Luke, but she was close to Noeya, she knew how her friend fought, and by now, she probably knew more about the clone's fighting style, than they themselves. Thus Mira meant more danger to them than anyone else in here.

With only one clone, Kyle was sure he had it the best in here. He wanted to overpower his foe as quickly as possible, striking her with one strong blow after the other. But she had no trouble defending against his strikes, and she shared his ambitions in quickly finishing this duel.

The clone struck Katarn's saber away and then kicked him to the ground with a fast and elegant strike to his chest. She twisted her lightsaber in her hand, and as she went to finish him off, a green lightsaber blade went through her chest.

Kyle quickly jumped to his feet, turning toward his savior. Although only two of her opponents were still standing, Mira had to retreat when she threw one of her sabers away. She quickly jumped next to Katarn, and retrieving her weapon, she fortified herself against the coming attack.

The clones attacked the pair with anger. While Wess easily managed to counter her opponent's blows, Katarn could only to think about one thing:

Not to fuck up this time.

As the clone struck him with seemingly impossible power, Kyle realized the the Force might not grant his wish. He stepped back, putting all of his hopes of success into a counterattack. The clone quickly jumped away from his strike, so she could strike back quick blow. She didn't target him, but his lightsaber hilt. The red blade reached the hilt, Katarn tried to save his weapon from the worst, but the she still managed to damage it. The hilt still functioned, but he could only guess for how long.

The clone knew this as well, she struck him again and again, hoping that his lightsaber would give way during her valiant siege.

"Mira, I hate to owe people... But could you just save me one more time?" Katarn said while he concentrated at the attacks of the clone.

Wess turned around, and she cut the clone into two with an elegant lightsaber blow. She quickly turned back to the other clone, but it was too late. Her opponent kicked one of her lightsabers out of her hand and quickly cut into her shoulder with her blade. If its not for the other saber, Mira would have lost her arm.

"Let me give you a hand with that," Katarn said. He initiated a fierce strike against the clone. But then, as the blue blade approached the clone's back, his damaged hilt stopped to function.

Why? Katarn asked himself.

The clone started to smile, cutting her saber deeper into Mira's flesh, as the women desperately tried to hold it back with the green blade. Wess didn't show her pain, but Katarn knew this couldn't be a pleasant feeling. He wanted to help, but then a sudden and unseen force grabbed the clone, launching her away from Mira.

Kyle turned around, only to see Luke cutting off the clone's head. Noeya was right, he had to kill, not just this clone, but the other two as well, their bodies laid behind him with deadly cuts on their back.

Finally, the battle was over.

As Kyle could take a deep, calming breath, Mira turned toward him and started to yell so loud she almost gave him a scare.

"Seriously?! How much more useless you could be?!" she glared at him with anger, and then she turned toward Luke. "Why did you even bring him here?"

"He is skilled fighter, he just has a bad day. That's all," Luke told her.

"I am pretty good actually, and it went pretty great for me in the beginning. I killed two of these things myself," Kyle tried to save his dignity.

"Yeah, right," Mira nodded skeptically. She seemed to be as fierce as a beast.

Until she looked at the durasteel coffin and realized who might lay in it.

While Katarn inspected his damaged lightsaber, Mira stepped to the canister, pushing a small button on its side to open it. She froze as the coffin opened, revealing her long lost friend, Noeya Adane.

A table emerged from the canister, the woman laid on it helpless, held there by countless black tubes that ran into her body. Her skin was unnaturally pale, Kyle saw so many scars on it that he didn't even understand, how could a single a person survive so much pain and suffering.

Noeya turned her head toward Mira, her once green eyes were filled with blood, she could barely breath, let alone to speak. Yet she broke her silence for the first time in a long time.

"Kill me..."

Mira fell to her knees hearing her words. She started to cry, Kyle couldn't even imagine what she felt this point. He wanted to step closer to them, but Skywalker stopped him.

"There is nothing we can do," Luke said.

Mira glanced at them, then she turned back to her friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I failed... But I am here now... Everything will be okay..." She said leaning close to her friend.

"Kill me... The pain... Kill me... " Noeya said, not reacting to her words.

"It's me... Mira, your friend," she said, struggling with her words. "Everything will be okay... You hear me? Everything will be okay..."

"Kill me... The pain... Kill me..."

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Mira told her, but it didn't matter what she said, her friend kept repeating the same things over and over again.

It soon became clear to Kyle that she was long gone by now. That's why Luke held him back. There was no coming back from this, not for Noeya.

And not even for Mira.

"I'm sorry... Forgive me... Please forgive me..." she said raising her ligtsaber close to Noeya's chest. "Forgive me, because I never will..."

"Kill me..." Noeya said, then she stopped as the the lightsaber burned through her guts. Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling, her breathing stopped, and as her life ended, a pale smile appeared in her face.

Mira didn't say a word after that, her tears said everything that had to be said. Kyle watched as she hugged her dead friend close to her, never wanting to let go of her.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I failed you... But I am here... I am here now... And I will never let you go again... You understand? I will never let go..."

Katarn wanted to intervene, but he knew, there was no point in it.

"Kyle," Luke said behind him. "Time to go. We will blast this place to hell with the White Night."

"But..." Kyle said, shaking his head.

"She wants it to end just as much as Noeya did," Luke said, his voice seemed calm, but Katarn knew that Skywalker was far from calm. This pained him more than anything else, but he knew he didn't have a choice. None of them had.

Kyle wanted to turn around and leave. But then...

Another voice broke the silence.

"Excuse me?"

* * *

Thank you for reading it! Don't forget to leave some feedback if you liked it :)

The final part is coming up, we already got to some conclusions in here, but the final surprise is yet to reveal itself :)


	5. Chapter 5

This is the last part of the story. I'm glad that you followed it so far, I hope you will like the ending :)

* * *

 **The fall of a noble soul**

 **Part V**

Kyle turned toward the voice. A small girl stood before him, red hair, green eyes, he had no doubt she was clone. The girl didn't seem to be more than two, maybe three years old, but he couldn't determine a clone's actual age by looks. She could have been here for a long time, or she might have been the first member of a new breed, the one that started all these events as she awakened from the darkness.

"Did I do it? Did it end? Did she find peace?" The young girl asked, looking at them half determined, yet afraid. "She wanted it to end... So badly... I wanted to help, but they didn't let me close to her... I thought if I call for help, maybe someone could end it... Did it happen? Did it end?"

"It's over now," Kyle said, as he approached her. "Don't worry, child, everything will be alright."

"No, it won't be," Luke shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Kyle said as he turned towards his friend.

"You have seen Noeya, there is no way she called us here. But the girl might be right, she could have done it. I sense power in her, and with it... danger. More danger than I felt in anyone ever before."

Kyle felt it as well, it wasn't the clones who were responsible for that immense cloud of Darkness surrounding this place, nor Noeya...

It was the girl.

"We can't kill a child. No way. I'm not a monster," Kyle said in dismay.

"We can't," Luke shook his head, trying to figure out what to do.

"Maybe there is another way," Kyle recognized. "I mean, she is just a child. It doesn't matter who's clone she is, as long as we keep her away from the Sith, she wouldn't become the end of anyone or anything. In fact, if she would become a Jedi, if she would use her powers for good, she might just become the best thing that happened with this galaxy for a long time."

"We can't bring her to the Temple, we couldn't hide her from the Sith. And if they realize that we are at Odessen..."

"I know, neither can we get her to the Republic. They wouldn't know what to do with her and she would end up with the Sith in an instant anyway. Even if we assigned some Jedi to protect her, Snoke would find a way... But as I said, there is another way."

"What way?" Mira asked, raising her head from the body.

"Do you have any experience with kids?" Kyle asked her.

"You want me to raise her?" she snapped.

"It sure as hell beats dying," Katarn shrugged. "Why would you stay with your dead friend until you get vaporized from space, if you can stay with the living one for a lifetime? You could get her to school, attend her stupid graduation, get pissed about everything she does in her teenager years, and in the end you would have a grown up identical to your friend, who would screw your day up every time she has some stupid ass idea," he explained, glancing toward Luke.

"It seems a bit, well... morbid. But I have to say, this would the best for the girl. You have experience with the Dark Side after all, you could hide her, train her to use her abilities well. And she can indeed become everything Noeya Adane couldn't be. She could have the life that was denied from your friend. And in your perspective, I believe it wouldn't be that bad if you were to stick around a bit more. After all, we've just met."

"I don't know," Mira said. She looked back to her dead friend, closing her eyes and saying one last goodbye to her. It was hard for her to do so, even harder to let go of her, but she did it. She stepped away from the coffin and approached the child with tears in her eyes. "Whats your name, little one?" she asked her gently.

"AR-99ISS-42... At least that's what everyone calls me," she answered, inspecting Mira. "You... You are familiar to me... I don't know why... Could you stay here for a bit?"

"Why don't you come with me?" Mira asked her. "I know you like new places. We could visit a lot of wonderful places together. Maybe even Odessen," she said, turning toward Skywalker.

"I just said we can't take her there," Luke answered.

"But you did tell me where you guys are hiding, smart ass. And if I am to raise her as my own kid, I think you might want to know what has become of her," she said as she swept her tears away.

"You bring her there only if you sure she won't give away our location," Luke told her, looking at the girl.

"You have my word," Mira nodded.

"So that's it? You will be her new mother?" Kyle asked. It was his idea all right, but it went way too well, and his instincts started to kick in.

"This is not a decision I can make right now. I guess, I will have to stick around for a bit if I want to think this through," she turned toward him. "I have some connections left, if I decide to end my life, I will make sure she gets to someone who can teach her to control her abilities. But if I find my life worth living once more, I will make sure to drop by at Odessen."

"Fair enough," Kyle nodded.

"What do you mean by end?" the girl asked. Mira stood to one knee in front of her and smiled at her. Kyle couldn't imagine how much that smile took from her.

"Nothing, my dear. We are just exchanging some ideas. Tell me, sweetheart, what's your name again?" Mira asked.

"AR-99ISS-42," the girl told her.

"Uhm..." Mira paused for a moment. "Can I call you Ariss from now on?"

"Sure... I guess it sounds better."

After a brief goodbye, both groups took off with their ships. Mira jumped into hyperspace as soon as she could, but Luke and Katarn still had some business in here.

Kyle flew the White Night toward the facility, granting Luke the perfect opportunity to blast this place into hell. After the first run the facility already looked like a pile of burning ash, but they decided to make another go with it, to make sure the lower levels are completely destroyed.

"You think we made the right decision?" Luke asked from him as they approached the facility for the second time.

"I don't know... I just want to be done with this, get home and drink so much I forget my name," he answered. "But I guess she will make a better mother than Snoke."

"If she is the one to raise her," Luke said, opening fire with the main gun.

"Of course she is," Kyle nodded, watching the hail of laser bolts heading toward the ruins. "She got depressed as hell in there, but who wouldn't? I wouldn't have too much will to live either, if it were you in there, no one would, who had a best friend for real. But that doesn't mean I will just ignite my lightsaber in my mouth. Life goes on, scars heal, and if I have something that I can hold on to in the darkest times, I would make it, just as Mira will. Because that's what Ariss will be to her, someone to hold on to when she feels she can't go on anymore. She will get through it, and she will find happiness in her life again, I'm telling you."

"So I guess I will have to look forward to the most problematic decision the Council ever had to make," Luke told him, the shots hit the place again, igniting its ruins, destroying everything the Sith could recover from it. "She will probably want Ariss to be a Jedi, since that would have been the salvation of Noeya. And if she is a Jedi, she will need a master..."

"I guess no one could teach her, but her mother. But can it come to that?" Kyle asked, as she turned the ship around to leave this place once and for all.

"If the others agree," Luke nodded. "We will be a bit bigger by the time they return. Hopefully with more experts on our side, we will be ready for them. Not just to protect them, but to also guide Mira back to the Light. And with it, we will ensure that Ariss will become a dedicated jedi, the end of the evil that created her."

"You say that, but you doubt that we are even ready for Ahsoka."

"Well..." Luke took a deep breath. "I guess it's not too late to change one of my past decisions. You are right, I became a bit cold, so to say. I don't trust people as much as in the old days, even if my guts tell me that I should."

"So you are saying...?"

"She could become a Jedi. I will give my consent to it, and you should stick with your original decision as well," Luke nodded.

"Let's hope she didn't burn the place down because we kept her waiting for eternity," Kyle told him jokingly.

"Lets find out, shall we?"

 **The End**

* * *

Thank your for reading my story! I hope you liked it just as much I enjoyed writing it :)

I feel like I left this story way too open, because there are a lot of possibilities in here with the remaining characters. I did this because I have another fanfiction written in my native language, which uses these characters, and I didn't want to break the continuity. I thought a lot about translating it into English and uploading it in here. If you are interested, please let me know :)

Thank you again, for reading it! Don't forget to leave some feedback! Constructive criticism is always welcome, I have a lot to learn about writing after all :)


End file.
